Wei’s Neologisms #6

Hangunder

n. (ˈhæŋɐn.də(ɹ))

1. When Wei has so little alcohol tolerance that he develops hangover symptoms before he's had enough to get drunk.

Caveat lector

A recent discussion on a friend's wall involved a 2014 survey finding that 92% of Saudi Arabians believe "Islamic State conforms to the values of Islam and Islamic law."

Wei Hong: As you know, study results depend not only on reality but also on methodology. It is therefore important to examine how questions were phrased and percentages calculated. Further details of the Al-Hayat survey do not appear to be readily available, other than that it was conducted via social media, a method known to introduce large selection bias. For now, the extraordinary claim of 92% does not appear to have commensurately extraordinary evidence.

My friends argued that it is acceptable to use suboptimal evidence as long as one is aware of the limitations, correctly pointing out that this is often a practical necessity.

Wei Hong: While there does exist a necessary epistemological continuum, it does not actually follow that poor evidence must be better than no evidence. Medical researchers recently demonstrated this truth by intentionally using poor methodology to find that patient outcomes in a cardiology trial (coincidentally named ISIS-2 too) varied significantly according to astrological star sign. Even without studies showing the contrary, it does not follow that doctors should pay more than zero heed to astrology. While a poorly designed study can show essentially any result, we must remember that such result may not only fail to show truth, but also succeed in showing anti-truth, such that poor evidence can also be worse than no evidence. (Those who suspect that a large proportion of Saudi Arabians supported Islamic State in 2014 should also consider that Saudi Arabia has participated in air strikes against Islamic State since 2014.)

Wei’s Neologisms #5

Phantom nostalgia

n. (ˈfæntəm nɒˈstaldʒə)

1. The feeling of nostalgia for times that pre-date one's birth.

Comforted

Last week, as I designed the valkyrie, I was weighed down with expectations of negative reactions from my Christian friends. When I submitted the post, this rainbow appeared in my room and I felt comforted.

Wei’s Neologisms #4

Retroquiry

From Latin retrō ("back") + quaerō ("I seek").

n. (ˈrɛtrokwaɪəɹi)

1. In intellectual discourse, when one first decides on a conclusion, then looks for supporting reasoning. Easily confused with "inquiry."

(Note that "conclusion" should not be conflated with "hypothesis.")

Abyzou unmasked

In the abortion debate, a key question is not when the developing human gains biological human status, but rather moral human status (for example, a placenta, genetically distinct from the parents, has the former but not the latter). Assertions generally range from fertilisation to birth. Internal consistency requires that proponents of the former position (“fertilisationists”) give due (for those of moral human status) consideration to all post-fertilisation losses.

A recent study [1] found 1.06 million induced abortions performed in the US for 2011. US census data [2] reveals 3.95 million births over this period. These figures do not include spontaneous abortions (miscarriage). While spontaneous abortion occurs in approximately 10% of recognised pregnancies, the majority of spontaneous abortions occur prior to the first missed menstrual period. A study of 618 pregnancies biochemically detected via hCG [3] found that 7.9% ended in clinical spontaneous abortion while a further 24.6% ended prior to clinically recognised pregnancy. Therefore, it can be extrapolated that 5.01 million births plus induced abortions comprise 67.5% of 7.42 million hCG-detectable pregnancies.

These figures still underestimate the true incidence of subclinical spontaneous abortion because most losses occur prior to implantation and detectable hCG rise. A study of 107 hysterectomy specimens performed in women with optimal probability of having recently conceived [4] found only 34 ova, of which 13 were abnormal potential abortuses. Of 8 pre-implanted ova, 4 (50%) were abnormal. The failure to identify ova in other specimens was attributed to failure of fertilisation or disintegration of a fertilised ovum. The greatest losses occurred at the pre-implantation stage or soon after. The rough estimation that 50% of fertilised ova survive beyond pre-implantation resulting in 3.95 million births comprising 26.6% of 14.84 million fertilised ova, is serendipitously consistent with most studies demonstrating the maximum chance of achieving clinically recognised pregnancy in one cycle at ~30% [5].

Estimated post-fertilisation outcomes are as follows:

- 7.42 million (50%) unrecognised spontaneous abortions, pre-implantation

- 3.95 million (27%) births

- 1.83 million (12%) unrecognised spontaneous abortions, post-implantation

- 1.06 million (7%) induced abortions

- 0.58 million (4%) recognised spontaneous abortions

Fertilisationists and non-fertilisationists agree on the moral imperative to reduce recognised spontaneous abortions and significant medical efforts are directed towards this. While fertilisationists also direct significant attention against induced abortions, it is arguably unrecognised spontaneous abortions, outnumbering induced abortions almost ninefold, that merit most fertilisationist attention.

Several counter-arguments are untenable:

- “Unrecognised spontaneous abortions are natural.” Disease is natural. The moral imperative is to intervene.

- “Unrecognised spontaneous abortions occur unknowingly.” The death of one moral human status entity is not mitigated by the ignorance of another. The moral imperative is to increase awareness.

- “Unrecognised spontaneous abortions have no available intervention.” Effort has not been directed towards finding interventions. The moral imperative is for effort.

Failure to accept or otherwise resolve the unrecognised spontaneous abortion imperative creates a reductio ad absurdum against the fertilisationist position. Note that abortion at other stages of human development is separate from the question of fertilisationism.

References

1. Jones, Rachel K., and Jenna Jerman. "Abortion incidence and service availability in the United States, 2011." Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 46.1 (2014): 3-14.

2. Martin, Joyce A., et al. "Births: final data for 2010." National vital statistics reports 61.1 (2012): 1-72.

3. Wang, Xiaobin, et al. "Conception, early pregnancy loss, and time to clinical pregnancy: a population-based prospective study." Fertility and sterility 79.3 (2003): 577-584.

4. Hertig, A. T., and J. Rock. "Searching for early fertilized human ova." Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation 4.3-4 (1973): 121-139.

5. Macklon, Nick S., Joep PM Geraedts, and Ban CJM Fauser. "Conception to ongoing pregnancy: the ‘black box’ of early pregnancy loss." Human Reproduction Update 8.4 (2002): 333-343.

Walküre

Based on Peter Nicolai Arbo (1831-1892)

Valkyrien (1869), oil on canvas

Exploitation dependency

ABC News Wool world record: 40kg fleece shorn off overgrown sheep in Canberra, RSPCA says Updated 9 September 2015 It was so woolly its life was at risk, as sheep can develop serious medical conditions if they are not regularly shorn.

Some breeds are dependent upon human exploitation for survival. What is the vegan position? Should they be made extinct via contraception?

Claw machine fraud

IFLScience How Claw Machines Are Rigged 31 August 2015

Deceptive trade practices must be prosecuted. The chance element needs to be stated to consumers and the machines regulated as gambling devices.

Wei’s Neologisms #3

Dysangelism

From Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-, “hard, difficult, bad”) + ἀγγέλλειν (angéllein, “to announce”).

n. (dɪˈsændʒɪˌlɪzəm)

1. Sharing news of something that results in driving people away from joining or otherwise accepting it.

Antonyms: evangelism

UPDATE: Actually, it turns out that others have already come up with this term.

Caesar's

Wei Hong commented on GC’s post:

WorldNetDaily State forbids pastors calling homosexuality 'sinful' 24 July 2015 Sets religious test for volunteer counselors for juvenile offenders

It should be noted that it is only employees of the secular state that need to do the job description required by the secular state. Christian pastors can still say what they wish outside of this setting. Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's.

Sentiment-mongers

From discussion on ST 's wall, wherein concern was voiced that cases like this may exacerbate feelings, among some Christians, that the LGBT rights movement has a hidden agenda of attacking religious freedom:

The American Conservative Heads LGBTs Win, Tails Christians Lose 21 May 2015

Under Canadian consumer laws, buyers are entitled to a refund only if the goods are unfit for purpose. Businesses may have policies granting additional refunds beyond statutory requirements. Sellers may grant further refunds at the own discretion. Buyers are not entitled to a refund on the basis of subsequent falling out with the seller or other change of mind. However, one could argue that the sale of wedding rings is a special case in that it is not merely the transaction of precious metal but also of significant long-term emotions and memories. Therefore, the taint of negative emotions may constitute goods unfit for purpose in this case, although this argument may need to be tested in court. However, courts should be the arbiters of last resort, and in this case it is in the interests of both buyer and seller that a refund be granted.

While some are concerned that the public backlash threatens the seller's freedom of belief, in this case it was the seller himself who invited public commentary over his beliefs when he voluntarily and unnecessarily posted them into the public forum. In this action, the seller must expect a possible reaction from the public, who are similarly entitled to their own freedom of belief. However, threats of violence are criminal and should be prosecuted.

It should be noted that a refund was indeed granted, and that both buyer and seller ultimately spoke of each other in positive terms. Therefore, the buyer-seller interaction in isolation was a comparatively minor issue. However, in his The American Conservative commentary, Dreher uses inflammatory language with negative connotations out of keeping with the two news articles he cites and fails to distinguish between the legitimate concerns of the buyers, the legitimate views of the some members of the public, and the illegitimate threats made by other members of the public. Any concerns about about exacerbation of Christian right-wing paranoia should be directed not towards the case and but rather towards Dreher himself. Distortion of truth and warmongering is counter-evangelical and incompatible with Christian values.

Fourier analysis

Waves of change sweep the West. The waveform merits exploration. The Supreme Court of the United States rules that marriage equality is a constitutional right, but what constitutes marriage equality, and marriage itself? 

I contend that modern marriage actually comprises two components:

- "Part A" is essential, general and secular. This component is recognised by the secular state and carries legal and economic rights.

- "Part B" is optional, and worldview-specific. This component is different for each worldview and may not exist for those with a purely secular worldview. Examples may include any spiritual joining and recognition by deities.

A secular wedding comprises Part A only. A legal religious wedding comprises both Part A and Part B in the one process. A religion that believes in polygamous marriage performing such a marriage in a state where polygamy is illegal comprises Part B only.

No religion or other worldview owns a monopoly on marriage as a whole. Secular legislation of same-sex marriage pertains to Part A and not Part B. Purely theological objections to same-sex marriage pertain only to Part B and not Part A. Therefore, purely theological arguments have little bearing on whether the state should legalise same-sex marriage. Conversely, however, state legalisation of same-sex marriage does not necessarily mean that all religious instutitions should be forced to perform them.

In cases where the realms of Part A and Part B conflict, a balance is needed between two ethical principles now in opposition:

- Autonomy. People have the right to their own choices. Such as in the case of medical treatment, good works, etc, the right to "opt-out" of certain actions generally overrules the ability to force others to "opt-in".

- Distributive justice. Laws should apply equally, and religious exemptions should be avoided, lest people circumvent laws by simply creating new religions wherein their illegal acts are doctrine.

While discrimination is abhorrent in the general setting, it is actually allowed in specific settings:

- Women-only gymnasiums, traditional gentleman's clubs, nightclubs, etc are allowed to discriminate by sex.

- Chinese students associations, etc are allowed to discriminate by race. For example, it is inappropriate for a non-indigenous person to even attend some Australian Aboriginal initiation ceremonies.

- Religious institutions are allowed to disciminate by religion. For example, for a wedding in a Roman Catholic church, at least one bride or groom must be Roman Catholic.

As a general rule:

- Institutions that interact with "society in general" should not discriminate.

- Institutions that interact with "societal subcultures" are allowed to discriminate. Furthermore, worldview-specific institutions should not be forced to provide things that do not exist in their worldview. Just as I cannot force McDonald's to serve me KFC, a Muslim butcher should not be forced to provide "halal pork."

Therefore a marriage clerk employed by the secular state should be required to facilitate legalised same-sex marriage if they are to keep their employment, regardless of their personal religious beliefs. A religious cleric should not be required to facilitate legalised same-sex marriage in their clerical capacity, if this is on the basis of their religious doctrine. A cake shop serves "society in general" rather than a "societal subculture" and therefore cannot refuse to cater for a same-sex wedding on religious grounds any more than it can refuse to cater for a particular race on religious grounds. A cake shop can still refuse to serve, for example, a pro-terrorism cake on principles other than purely theological grounds. 

Some grey areas may remain. For example, distinctions between "state" versus "religious" and "society in general" versus "societal subculture" may not be always clear. 

Aruna Shanbaug

LC ► Wei Hong

May 20 at 2:23am

What do u think?

BBC News Aruna Shanbaug: India nurse whose rape changed euthanasia laws  11 August 2014

The Aruna Shanbaug case resulted in a 2011 Supreme Court of India decision allowing "passive euthanasia" to be considered in certain cases if doctors file a case in court.

"Passive euthanasia" is a misnomer that should be expunged from the dialectic lexicon. While acts of omission do not automatically merit ethical distinction from acts of commission, true euthanasia ("active euthanasia") remains fundamentally distinct from withdrawal of futile medical treatment ("passive euthanasia") due to underlying intent. The former represents the patient's desire to reduce life quantity. The latter represents the doctor's responsibility to not increase suffering (primum non nocere).

Independent to the question of treatment withdrawal, doctors also have a responsibility to not enact medically inappropriate treatment (for example, doctors cannot grant a patient's demand for their heartburn to be treated by heart transplantation). While oral food and drink constitute basic care that cannot be withheld, adult nasogastric feeding is an invasive medical treatment, which in Aruna Shanbaug's case resulted in increased suffering for no meaningful benefit. It is further concerning that she was subjected to tracheal intubation shortly prior to her death. 

Ultimately, the Aruna Shanbaug story most prominently highlights the need for development not of legislation but rather of medical training.

http://singularity24601.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/quality-of-life-quality-of-death.html

Wei’s Neologisms #2

Cardioencephaly

n. (ˌkɑːdɪəʊɛnˈkɛfali)

1. When someone thinks with emotion instead of logic.

Wei’s Neologisms #1

Offence stealing

n. (ə'fɛns 'stiːlɪŋ)

1. When someone tries too hard to take offence, despite none being offered. For example, in an attempt to claim a moral high ground in a debate.

Photoshop

A friend was defending the role in photoediting in photography:

My Little Moments Is This Photoshopped?  4 August 2014

The eye physically "sees" very little at any given moment (raw footage from the retina would be considered poor quality), and what we perceive as "vision" is actually the brain "Photoshopping" the incoming data. I would also argue that people adjusting ISO, shutter speed, filter, etc on their expensive camera is simply "Photoshopping" at the hardware level.

Apologise

BBC News US Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic leads school to apologise  21 March 2015

People are fine with reading the pledge in a different language each day, until it's in Arabic? Those who took offence do not deserve an apology. They themselves should apologise for taking offence. Arabic-speaking forces allied to the US far outnumber the likes of Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. Those who “lost family in Afghanistan” should realise that Arabic is not even an official language of Afghanistan. This level of sheer ignorance is analogous to conflating Americans with Nazis simply because both are Caucasian.

The perfect scam

New York State Office of the Attorney General A.G. Schneiderman Asks Major Retailers To Halt Sales Of Certain Herbal Supplements As DNA Tests Fail To Detect Plant Materials Listed On Majority Of Products Tested  3 February 2015

A recent New York Attorney General investigation found that almost 80% of herbal preparations contain no trace of the herbs advertised. The perfect scam: sell herbs with no effect so your customers will be none the wiser when you don't even add the herbs.

Levels of non-evidence

The Guardian Homeopathy not effective for treating any condition, Australian report finds  11 March 2015 Report by top medical research body says ‘people who choose homeopathy may put their health at risk if they reject or delay treatments’

In medicine, we often say "there is no evidence for treatment X." We should add further distinction between "we haven't done the research" versus "we did the research and found no effect."

Blurred Lines

The Guardian Blurred Lines 'copied Marvin Gaye'  11 March 2015 A jury in the US rules that the writers of Blurred Lines – one of the best selling singles of all time – copied a Marvin Gaye track from 1977.

The "feeling" of an entire decade cannot be copyrighted, and there are only a finite number of possible melodies and beats. This ruling is a good example of how current intellectual property law, contrary to its intended effect, stifles rather than encourages content creation.

The $7.3 million payout is also manifestly excessive, considering that Thicke could have just totally copied Gaye's song as a cover version for a mechanical licensing fee of (assuming 9.1 cents for 14.8 million units) around $1.3 million in royalties. "Noxiae" poena par esto.

Another vote of no confidence in the US tort system.

Food for thought

AnimalVisuals.org Number of Animals Killed to Produce One Million Calories in Eight Food Categories  12 October 2009

Davis estimates 15 animal deaths per hectare per year (d/ha/y) due for vegan agriculture, compared to 7.5 d/ha/y for meat production. Matheny points out Davis' error in failing to consider that meat requires 2-7 times the land to produce a given amount of usable protein.

While these numbers so far superficially appear to favour veganism, they fail to take into account that agricultural lands are not equal and that animals do not necessarily need to be fed with crops. A significant portion of meat production occurs on rangelands, which comprises the majority of land on Earth, unsuitable for crop production. Replacing rangeland meat production with vegan agriculture would require mass destruction of native habitats.

After the initial destruction, the estimated ongoing animal deaths of 7.5 d/ha/y was derived by assuming that “forage production requires fewer passages through the field with tractors and other farm equipment.” In practice, other forage options exist. A stockpiling and limit-feeding strategy on rangelands, for example, may require no tractors at all. To the extent that these methods reduce wild animal deaths to less than 2.1-7.5 d/ha/y, the argument in terms of ongoing animal deaths also shifts back in favour of omnivorism.

Hypercrisy (Wei’s Neologisms #0)

The Guardian What do doctors say to 'alternative therapists' when a patient dies? Nothing. We never talk  3 March 2015 Jess Ainscough’s tragic death is all too familiar for oncologists. We’ve all lost patients to the ‘secret powers’ of alternative therapy

I would be happy for "alternative therapists" to practice under the following conditions:

1. They face the same consequences as evidence-based practitioners do for giving poor advice, including potential manslaughter conviction (up to 20 years jail in Victoria).
2. If they, for example, fall ill with cancer themselves, they are only allowed to undergo the same treatments they advised to their customers.

Someone accused the medical community of false dichotomy (the "OR question"); that non-evidence-based therapy can be helpful in conjunction with evidence-based therapy (the "AND question").

WH: It is the "alternative therapy" advocates who make this an "OR question" when they promote their business as an "alternative" to evidence-based therapy, such as in the case of Jessica Ainscough.

Regarding the "AND question" of "complementary" (rather than "alternative") therapy, I am relatively happy for people to enjoy placebo effects that:

1. Do not interfere with evidence-based therapies (many evidence-free therapies actually do interfere with medications or are lacking in safety data).
2. Do not cause significant financial harm (people are charged significant prices for evidence-free therapies, while evidence-based therapies are generally free in the public health system).
Fraud is a crime. Fraud specifically targeting the most physically and psychologically vulnerable is an atrocity.

Someone asked for proposed solutions.

WH: Perhaps top-down regulatory reform and bottom-up education in critical thinking during secondary school.

New Atheism and creationism

Discussion on YT’s wall:

Mother Jones Future President Ben Carson Wrote 6 Books. We Read Them So You Don't Have To.  27 January 2015 “I find it as hard to accept the claims of evolution as it is to think that a hurricane blowing through a junkyard could somehow assemble a fully equipped and flight-ready 747.”

A New Atheist remarked on “the mind-boggling ability of religion to turn otherwise intelligent people into idiots is so potent that apparently even being a trained neurosurgeon is no guarantee that one can understand the basic mechanics of natural selection.”

WH: This intelligence failure phenomenon is unfortunately not unique to religion. Consider Nobel Chemistry laureate Linus Pauling and his megadose vitamin C controversy.

The discussion turned to the infamous 1998 episode where Richard Dawkins was duped into a video interview with creationist organisation Answers in Genesis, which was deceitfully edited to give the impression that Dawkins was unable to give an example of a mutation that increased information in the genome. A creationist said that “it really is Dawkins’ responsibility to vet his interviews.”

WH: As much as I disagree with Richard Dawkins, he cannot be held responsible for deceitful editing when he consents to an interview in good faith. To do so is the equivalent of blaming fraud on the victim for “failing to do some basic research.” Rather, it is the responsibility of allegedly Christian editors to act in a manner that is compatible with Christian values.

The creationist referred to biologist RW Carter’s argument that evolution can only increase “mathematical information” (in the Shannon entropy sense) but not “biological information.”

Journal of Creation Can mutations create new information?  August 2011 Evolution requires the existence of a process for the invention of new information from scratch. Yet, in a genome operating in at least four dimensions and packed with meta-information, potential changes are strongly proscribed. Can mutations produce new information? Yes, depending on what you mean by ‘new’ and ‘information’. Can they account for the evolution of all life on Earth? No!

Ultimately, examples of evolutionary “information” increase do exist, so whether Dawkins could name them is irrelevant. Examples can be expected to arise via basic mutation modalities.

In his article, Carter's own examples of aerobic citrate metabolising E. coli and nylonase Flavobacterium easily constitute increased “biological information” under his chosen definition of “an encoded, symbolically represented message conveying expected action.” Carter's attempt to redefine these examples as "degraded information" consists of grossly false claims and puerile semantics, and bears false witness against the truth.